Hurricane Julia was a deadly
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...
that caused significant impacts in Central America as a
Category 1 hurricane
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in October 2022. The tenth
named storm
Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the ...
and fifth
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...
of the
2022 Atlantic hurricane season, Julia formed from a
tropical wave
A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...
over the southern
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...
on October 7, just off the coast of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
. Only one storm on record,
Tropical Storm Bret The name Bret has been used for eight tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth ...
in 1993, has tracked further south over South America.
On October 9, it became a hurricane and proceeded to make landfall in Nicaragua. It emerged into the Pacific Ocean as a tropical storm late that same day, becoming the eighteenth tropical storm of the
2022 Pacific hurricane season
The 2022 Pacific hurricane season was a slightly above average hurricane season in the eastern North Pacific basin (east of 140°W), with nineteen named storms, ten hurricanes, and four major hurricanes. Two of the storms crossed into the basi ...
, and the second storm of the season to survive the
crossover between the Atlantic–Pacific basin, after
Bonnie
Bonnie is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean or Bonnie Dundee about John Graham, 7th Laird of Claverhouse. It comes from the Scots language word "bon ...
in July. The storm then briefly moved along the coast of El Salvador, before moving inland and degenerating into an open trough over Guatemala on October 10.
Julia brought heavy rains to much of Central America, causing life-threatening flash floods and deadly mudslides, exacerbating an already devastating rainy season. Floods, storm surge and the total or partial collapse of houses forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Its precursor disturbance triggered similar impacts in northern Venezuela. Altogether, Julia was responsible for 35 direct deaths, 54 indirect deaths,
and at least US $762 million in damage.
Meteorological history
On October 2, the
National Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is the division of the United States' NOAA/National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting tropical weather systems between the IERS Reference Meridian, Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian ...
(NHC) began monitoring a
tropical wave
A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...
over the central tropical Atlantic. A broad area of low pressure formed on October 4, as it approached the southern
Windward Islands
The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...
. Due to the threat the developing system posed to land areas in the southern
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
, the NHC initiated advisories on it as ''
Potential Tropical Cyclone
The following is a glossary of tropical cyclone terms.
A
;Advisory: Official information issued by tropical cyclone warning centers describing all tropical cyclone watches and warnings in effect along with details concerning tropical cyclone loc ...
Thirteen'' on October 6. By 00:00 UTC on October 7, the disturbance had attained sufficient circulation and organized convection to be designated as a tropical depression, while located near the coast of
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. A few hours later, the westward moving depression traversed the
Paraguaná Peninsula
Paraguaná () is a peninsula and tied island in Venezuela, situated in the north of Falcón State, and comprises the municipalities of Carirubana, Los Taques and Falcón. The island of Aruba lies to the north. Bonaire and Curaçao are slight ...
and then the
Guajira Peninsula
The Guajira Peninsula (, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, ) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of exte ...
.
During this time, a strong burst of deep convection developed near the center of the depression and its central banding features became better developed, resulting in it strengthening into Tropical Storm Julia soon afterwards, it strengthened into Tropical Storm Julia. That afternoon, the storm began to gain strength as it moved through the warm southwest Caribbean in an environment with moist air and low wind shear. Julia became a hurricane 00:00 UTC on October 9, about east of the coast of
Nicaragua
Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
. At 06:00 UTC that morning, the hurricane attained peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of and a minimum barometric pressure of , and made landfall a little over an hour later near
Laguna de Perlas, Nicaragua, at peak intensity.
The system then gradually weakened to a tropical storm as it moved westward across Nicaragua, while maintaining a well-defined circulation and deep convection persisting near the center. Late on October 9, Julia, severely weakened, moved off the western coast of Nicaragua and into the East Pacific basin. At 11:00 UTC on October 10, the center of the storm crossed the coast of
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
, near
Acajutla
Acajutla is a seaport city in Sonsonate Department, El Salvador. The city is located at on the Pacific coast of Central America and is El Salvador's principal seaport from which a large portion of the nation's exports of coffee, sugar, and Balsa ...
, with sustained winds of . It quickly weakened to a Tropical depression inland, and then dissipated later that same day. Residual energy from Julia subsequently contributed to the formation a few days later, of
Tropical Storm Karl.
Preparations and impact
South America
Venezuela
While a tropical depression, the system brought heavy rain and flooding to much of the
Venezuelan Caribbean.
As a result of additional rainfall after the storm passed through, at least 54 people died and dozens went missing when mud and debris inundated
Las Tejerías,
Aragua
Aragua State (, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains, jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular beaches are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first national par ...
, on October 8.
Colombia
The center of Julia passed just south of
San Andrés Island while it was reaching hurricane strength east of Nicaragua. At least 174 homes were destroyed by Julia, and 5,247 homes and a health center were damaged.
Central America
Julia caused approximately US$762 million in damages in Central America.

Nicaragua
The hurricane left at least 1 million people without power and forced the evacuation of 13,000 families.
Of the nation's 143 municipalities, 96 reported varying degrees of damage. Overall, Julia left at least $400 million in damage and five deaths in Nicaragua.
Honduras
The Government of Honduras opened more than 1,137 shelters nationwide, with 9,200 people utilizing them by October 10. A red alert, the highest level of warning, was issued for 10 of Honduras's 18 departments. Many homes were flooded along the
Chamelecón River, which continued to rise as of October 10.
Heavy rains brought water levels at several dams to above or near maximum capacity. The
Ulúa River
The Ulúa River (, ) is a river in western Honduras. It rises in the central mountainous area of the country close to La Paz and runs approximately due northwards to the east end of the Gulf of Honduras at . En route, it is joined by the Sula ...
rose to near Santiago, exceeding the red alert stage for flooding. The most significant effects were felt in
Yoro Department
Yoro is one of the 18 departments into which Honduras is divided. The department contains rich agricultural lands, concentrated mainly on the valley of the Aguan River and the Sula Valley, on opposite ends. The departmental capital is Yoro. The de ...
. Throughout Honduras, Julia killed four people and left two others missing as of October 11. A total of 103,960 people were affected, 3,412 of whom required evacuation. A total of 278 homes were destroyed and a further 397 suffered varying degrees of damage.
El Salvador
On October 8, the Government of
El Salvador
El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
declared an orange alert for the entire territory due to the approaching storm.
Fishing and recreational activities in rivers, beaches, and lakes were suspended until October 11.
Shelters for 3,000 people were prepared.
A state of national emergency was declared due to the hurricane. The Government ended up declaring a red alert for civil protection due to the winds throughout the national territory. Tree falls were reported in different municipalities, impeding traffic and damaging cars.
Falling branches blocked several major highways; roads were also damaged by landslides.
Five soldiers died and another was injured in
Comasagua when the home they were seeking refuge in collapsed.
In all, Julia was responsible for ten deaths in El Salvador.
Guatemala
In Guatemala, a total of 457,300 people were affected throughout Guatemala, 1,165 of whom required evacuation. At least 14 people died throughout Guatemala: nine in
Huehuetenango Department and five in
Alta Verapaz Department
Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, an ...
.
Costa Rica
Flooding was reported throughout
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
. 470 people were transported to temporary hospitals, mostly in the South Pacific. Red alerts were issued throughout the country.
Panama
Two people died in Panama near the border with Costa Rica and around 300 people required evacuation.
The Ministry of Education of Panama suspended classes on October 10. A total of two landslides were reported.
Due to heavy rains, nearly 868 people were affected.
The
Tierras Altas District saw significant damage, particularly to road infrastructure. Approximately 70 percent of roads in the district were damaged or blocked by debris, rendering some communities inaccessible. Roughly of crops valued at $6–7 million, half of which were potatoes, were lost.
Elsewhere
On October 5, the precursor tropical wave brought heavy thunderstorms to several southern Windward Islands. More than of rain fell in Trinidad and Tobago in less than a half-hour, causing significant flash flooding.
Significant flooding was also reported in extreme southern
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
as the system's remnants dissipated.
See also
*
List of Atlantic–Pacific crossover hurricanes
*
List of Category 1 Atlantic hurricanes
*
Timeline of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season
*
Timeline of the 2022 Pacific hurricane season
*
Tropical cyclones in 2022
During 2022, tropical cyclones formed in seven major bodies of water, commonly known as tropical cyclone basins. Tropical cyclones were named by various weather agencies when they attained maximum sustained winds of . During the year, 133 syste ...
*
Weather of 2022
*
Other storms of the same name
*
Hurricane Cesar–Douglas (1996) - another deadly system had a similar track and crossed into the Pacific basin
*
Tropical Storm Matthew (2010) – deadly tropical storm that took a similar track
*
Hurricane Otto
Hurricane Otto was a strong late-season tropical cyclone that impacted parts of Central America in November 2016. It was the first Atlantic hurricane since Cesar–Douglas in 1996 to survive the crossover from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific ...
(2016) – had similarly damaging and deadly impacts in the same region
*
Hurricane Iota
Hurricane Iota was a devastating late-season tropical cyclone which caused severe damage to areas of Central America already devastated by Hurricane Eta two weeks prior. The 31st and final tropical cyclone, 30th named storm, 14th hurricane, an ...
(2020) – an intense hurricane that had a similar track, affecting Central America
References
External links
* The National Hurricane Center'
advisory archive on Hurricane Julia (Atlantic Basin)* The National Hurricane Center'
advisory archive on Tropical Storm Julia (Eastern Pacific Basin)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Julia (2022)
2022 Atlantic hurricane season
2022 meteorology
2022 Pacific hurricane season
Category 1 Atlantic hurricanes
Eastern Pacific tropical storms
Hurricanes in Colombia
Hurricanes in Costa Rica
Hurricanes in Nicaragua
Hurricanes in Venezuela
2022 in Colombia
2022 in Costa Rica
2022 in Nicaragua
2022 in Venezuela
Tropical cyclones in 2022
2022 disasters in South America
2022 disasters in North America